In Dreux, the Fonderie Loiselet relocates its manufacture in France in a new hyper-automated company equipped with electric hoists Verlinde
The LOISELET foundry, specialized in the manufacture of cast iron products, is located in Dreux, 70km west of Paris. Founded in 1850 by César Loiselet, the company has always remained the property of the family.
Today the fifth generation embodied by Sylvain Loiselet, CEO of the company, and his brother Sébastien Loiselet, is still in charge. The sixth generation is preparing, with the arrival of children who gradually integrate the company in different positions.
Return of manufacture in France
For economic reasons, in 2001, manufacturing was relocated to the factory located in China. In 2011, the conditions for the reimplantation of production in France being favorable, the construction of a manufacturing unit was launched in Dreux.
This return to Dreux offered many advantages in terms of product quality, reactivity on new projects, logistics, delays and transport costs. Indeed, LOISELET's main markets are in Europe and North America (USA and Canada).
2012 was the year of the opening in Dreux of a hyper-automated production unit in an 8,000 m² workshop. Ninety-two people work there, six at the design office and sixty in production. From the outset, two melting furnaces have been installed which work in pairs and offer a foundry capacity of twelve tons / hour. The speed of the plant is rapid. It is expected that the turnover, from 12M ? in 2013, will increase to 35M ? when production reaches full capacity within three years. At this date, it is likely that the Chinese plant will be closed.
Heavy-duty parts
The weight of the parts to be handled is between 20 and 400 kg, the handling equipment is essential. Also, from the design of the plant, the presence of electric hoists was considered an important element in the production chain. The EUROSYSTEM ST equipment from VERLINDE has been selected in conjunction with Eurochain VL electric chain hoists equipped with an electrical control for raising / lowering, horizontal displacements being carried out manually. The internal design office designed the bearing structure for the rolling tracks in compliance with the standards in force and the installation was checked and approved by Coface.
Verlinde hoists in workshops
• At the smelting workshop, at the outlet of a smelter, a EUROCHAIN ??VL hoist serves a work station and allows the movements of the parts over a distance of 10 m.
• The machining workshop for boring, tapping or surface machining works with two automated five-axis machines, powered by 2 hoists from the new EUROCHAIN ??VR range.
• For some parts, a painting operation is necessary. The painting line offers two techniques, one by soaking the part, the other by spraying. Two hoists serve both workstations.
• At the blasting station, metal microbeads are sprayed at a speed of 80m / s for pickling of parts, four Verlinde hoists equipped with an electromagnet are used to meet production needs.
• Finally, there is no mold foundry without a mold and the molding workshop is an essential part of the quality of the products. The production capacity of this workshop is 80 molds per hour. The EUROCHAIN VR hoist equipped with an electric up / down control for this workshop transports the aluminum molding model to the sand molding frame.
Thus, nine identical VERLINDE hoists displace all loads in the workshops of the LOISELET factory in Dreux. For Camille Loiselet, Head of Marketing and Supplier Relations, the choice of VERLINDE was naturally driven by the proximity of the VERLINDE agency, the quality / price ratio of the equipment and its reliability, without forgetting that maintenance and The troubleshooting is simplified thanks to a homogeneous fleet of hoists.
A wide range of products
The LOISELET smelter manufactures products made of gray cast iron (graphite lamellar) and cast iron GS (spheroidal graphite), for different markets:
Industry (85% of Turnover) covers areas such as agricultural equipment, railway and construction. The road network (10% of turnover) represents a wide variety of products such as sewer plates, manholes, drains, etc. Finally, the art foundry and street furniture market brings 5% of turnover: Manufacture of lampposts, plate of chimney, plancha, public benches, fountains, planters.etc ...